[il-talk] 'A legend of Mount Prospect': Blind roller derby champion Sammy Skobel dies at 92

[Brian Sumner]

That is a great story and thank you for sharing that with me and many
people here in Illinois and around the Country.

On Wed, Jun 13, 2018 at 10:37 AM, Leslie Hamric via IL-Talk <
il-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

>
> http://www.dailyherald.com/news/20180611/a-legend-of-
> mount-prospect-blind-roller-derby-champion-sammy-skobel-dies-at-92
>
> 'A legend of Mount Prospect': Blind roller derby champion Sammy Skobel
> dies at 92
> Chacour Koop
> Sammy Skobel lost his eyesight in the beginning of his life. At the end,
> it was his memory.
>
> Yet neither setback stopped him from seizing on a life of love and family,
> roller derby and hot dogs, beating the odds and empowering the blind.
>
> Skobel, known to Northwest suburban residents as the founder of the now
> closed Hot Dogs Plus in downtown Mount Prospect, died Saturday nearly five
> years after doctors diagnosed him with Alzheimer's disease. He was 92.
>
> "He was a firm believer that one's limitations should never dictate their
> outcome in life," said his son, Stephen Skobel.
>
> When he was 5 years old, scarlet fever caused Skobel to become legally
> blind. He was entirely blind by the end of his life. Still, he enjoyed
> athletics growing up on Maxwell Street in Chicago, just blocks from the
> Chicago Coliseum.
>
> It was at the coliseum that he first watched the roller derby as a
> teenager, a sport he would master later in life. In high school, however,
> he was a track star, earning scholarship offers from three colleges. But
> when the coaches learned that Skobel was blind, each offer was rescinded.
>
> "Nowadays, they would probably give him a better scholarship," Stephen
> Skobel said.
>
> Breaking into the professional roller derby would prove difficult, too.
>
> As the story goes, Skobel had earned a spot on a roller derby team and was
> using a magnifying glass to read the final paperwork in a telephone booth
> when an executive of the team saw him struggling to see. It was the first
> of several teams that would deny him a spot because of his vision.
>
> Eventually, he earned a spot on team in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but only
> after he first served as an equipment manager, cleaning the skates for team
> members. The coaches saw him skating before and after practice and decided
> to give him a shot, Stephen Skobel said.
>
> He turned the opportunity into a 20-year career in a sport where athletes
> were treated as celebrities. Skobel would go onto win world championships
> and most-valuable-player awards, and set a world record for the fastest
> mile on roller skates. He met singer Tony Bennett, actress Debbie Reynolds
> and President Jimmy Carter, to name a few.
>
> And he met his future wife, Acrivie, at a dance. She remembers that Skobel
> was tired and sat down throughout the night, until he asked her to dance
> during the final song. They married three months later in 1952. The couple
> had two sons: Sam Jr. and Stephen.
>
> After retiring from roller derby, Skobel opened Hot Dogs Plus in 1967. The
> restaurant provided first jobs for many local high school students. He sold
> the restaurant in 1987.
>
> In 1970, the Skobels established the American Blind Skiing Foundation,
> which helped hundreds of blind skiers learn independence. Skobel also
> talked to children at local schools about the power of believing in their
> dreams.
>
> "Because of his own personal story, he focused on physical disabilities,
> but he would also speak with minorities and girls," Stephen Skobel said.
>
> On Monday, Acrivie Skobel reminisced on their 66-year marriage. Their
> first date immediately after the dance, when he ate oatmeal and applesauce
> at the coffee shop. The times he called her at work and sang songs over the
> phone. The final months, when his memory faded and she played music on the
> radio.
>
> She remembers one day in particular when she started music for Skobel and
> walked into the kitchen. From the other room, she could hear her husband
> singing along to Billy Eckstine's version of "I Apologize," a hit song when
> the couple first met.
>
> "He was an amazing man," she said. "He was a legend of Mount Prospect."
>
> Friends are invited to celebrate Skobel's life from noon to 3 p.m.
> Saturday at Mount Prospect's Brick City Tavern, 34 S. Main St. -- the site
> of the original Sammy Skobel's Hot Dogs Plus.
>
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
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